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Towers impressed by Delgado's improvement

Towers impressed by Delgado's improvement

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By Steve Gilbert
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MLB.com |

SAN DIEGO -- After a rough spring, Randall Delgado has pitched well enough to make him a leading candidate for the D-backs rotation in 2014.

"I think he's only going to get better," D-backs general manager Kevin Towers said. "I think his confidence is probably higher now than it's probably ever been in his career. And I think he feels he fits. He's a good kid with a good head. He's smart. He'll work on the things he needs to to be better. And I think he will be better."

Delgado is 5-6 with a 3.96 ERA in 19 games (18 starts) this year after coming over from Atlanta in January in the trade that sent Justin Upton to the Braves.

One of the things that Delgado will need to figure out how to do in 2014 is cut down on the number of home runs he allows.

Though he's allowed fewer than one hit per inning pitched this year, Delgado has allowed a whopping 22 home runs in 111 1/3 innings.

"It's location," Towers said. "He's got great stuff. They're not missing his mistakes. His weapon is his changeup, and changeups -- as we saw with [Josh] Collmenter in L.A. -- it's the type of pitch that if you leave it up, damage could be had. And his breaking pitch is his third pitch. His homers are going to be getting too much of the plate, an elevated fastball or a changeup that's left up in the zone."

Whereas in the spring he struggled with his command, Delgado has not had any trouble with wildness in the Majors.

"I know when he starts, I'm confident," Towers said. "I like when he starts."